---
title: "Metamorphoses"
author: "Ovid"
translator: "Brookes More"
title_ru: "Метаморфозы"
author_ru: "Овидий"
languages: [la, en]
shelf: "Classical Latin"
section: 13 of 30
url: https://scriptura.si/works/ovid-metamorphoses/13/
cite: "Ovid, tr. Brookes More, Metamorphoses, section 13. Scriptura (scriptura.si), https://scriptura.si/works/ovid-metamorphoses/13/"
---

# Metamorphoses

*Ovid, tr. Brookes More*

Russian: Метаморфозы, Овидий

Bodies changed into new forms, from the creation of the world to the deification of Julius Caesar: Daphne, Narcissus, Pyramus and Thisbe, Icarus, Orpheus.

> Latin: ed. Hugo Magnus, from the Perseus Digital Library (canonical-latinLit, phi0959.phi006, CC BY-SA 4.0).

> English: Brookes More, from the Perseus Digital Library (phi0959.phi006.perseus-eng3). Notes are not included.

> Rows follow the references the two texts share (line numbers), cut where both reach the end of a sentence.

## 13. Book VII · lines 1–452

Source: https://scriptura.si/works/ovid-metamorphoses/13/ · cite a paragraph as https://scriptura.si/works/ovid-metamorphoses/13/#p-N

[¶0] Over the storm-tossed waves, the Argonauts
had sailed in Argo, their long ship to where
King Phineus, needy in his old age, reigned—
deprived of sight and feeble. When the sons
of Boreas had landed on the shore,
and seen the Harpies snatching from the king
his nourishment, befouling it with beaks
obscene, they drove those human-vultures thence.
And having suffered hardships and great toils,
after the day they rescued the sad king
from the vile Harpies, those twin valiant youths,
Zetes and Calais came with their chief,
the mighty Jason, where the Phasis flows.
From the green margin of that river, all
the crew of Argonauts, by Jason led,
went to the king Aeetes and required
the Golden Fleece, that he received from Phryxus.
When they had bargained with him, full of wiles
he offered to restore the Golden Fleece
only to those who might to him return,
victorious from hard labors of great risk.
Medea, the king's daughter, near his throne,
saw Jason, leader of the Argonauts,
as he was pressing to secure a prize—
and loved at sight with a consuming flame.
Although she struggled to suppress her love,
unable to restrain herself, she said,
“In vain I've striven to subdue my heart:
some god it must be, which I cannot tell,
is working to destroy my hapless life;
or else it is the burning flame of love
that in me rages. If it is not love,
why do the mandates of my father seem
too harsh? They surely are too harsh. Why do
I fear that he may perish whom I have
seen only once? What is the secret cause
that I am agitated by such fears?—
It is no other than the god of Love.
“Thrust from your virgin breast such burning flames
and overcome their hot unhappiness—
if I could do so, I should be myself:
but some deluding power is holding me
helpless against my will. Desire persuades
me one way, but my reason still persuades
another way. I see a better course
and I approve, but follow its defeat. —
“O royal maiden, why are you consumed
with love for this strange man, and why are you
so willing to be carried by the nuptial ties
so far from your own country, where, indeed,
are many brave men worthy of your love?
“Whether for life or death his numbered hours
are in the mercy of the living Gods,
and that he may not suffer risk of death,
too well foreseen, now let my prayers prevail—
righteously uttered of a generous heart
without the stress of love. What wicked thing
has Jason done? His handsome person, youth,
and noble ways, would move a heart of stone.
“Have I a heart of flint, or was I born
a tigress to deny him timely aid?—
Unless I interpose, he will be slain
by the hot breath of brazen-footed bulls,
or will be slaughtered by the warriors, sprung
miraculous from earth, or will be given
to satisfy the ravenous appetite
of a huge dragon.
“Let my gloating eyes
be satiate with his dying agonies!
Let me incite the fury of these bulls!
Stir to their blood-lust mad-born sons of Earth!
Rouse up the never-sleeping dragon's rage!—
“Avert it Gods!—
“But why should I cry out
upon the Gods to save him from such wrong,
when, by my actions and my power, myself
may shield him from all evils?
“Such a course
would wreck the kingdom of my father—and by me
the wily stranger would escape from him;
and spreading to the wind his ready sails
he would forget and leave me to my fate.—
Oh, if he should forget my sacrifice,
and so prefer those who neglected him,
let him then perish in his treachery.—
“But these are idle thoughts: his countenance,
reveals innate nobility and grace,
that should dispel all fear of treachery,
and guarantee his ever-faithful heart.
The Gods will witness our united souls,
and he shall pledge his faith. Secure of it
my fear will be removed. Be ready, then—
and make a virtue of necessity:
your Jason owes himself to you; and he
must join you in true wedlock. Then you shall
be celebrated through the land of Greece,
by throngs of women, for the man you saved.
“Shall I then sail away, and so forsake
my sister, brother, father, Gods, and land
that gave me birth? My father is indeed
a stern man, and my native land is all
too barbarous; my brother is a child,—
my sister's goodwill is good help for me;
and heaven's supreme god is within my breast.
“I shall not so be leaving valued hopes,
but will be going surely to great things.
And I should gain applause from all the world,
as having saved the threatened Argonauts,
most noble of the Greeks; and in their land,
which certainly is better than my own,
become the bride of Jason, for whose love
I should not hesitate to give the world—
and in whose love the living Gods rejoice
so greatly; for his sake they would bestow
their favors on my head, and make the stars
my habitation.
“Should I hesitate
because the wreck-strewn mountains bar the way,
and clash together in the Euxine waves;
or fear Charybdis, fatal to large ships,
that sucks the deep sea in its whirling gulf
and spouts far upward, with alternate force,
or Scylla, circled with infuriate hounds
howling in rage from deep Sicilian waves?
“Safe in the shielding arms of him I love,
on Jason's bosom leaning, I shall be
borne safely over wide and hostile seas;
and in his dear embrace forget my fears—
or if for anything I suffer dread,
it will be only for the one I love.—
“Alas, Medea, this vain argument
has only furnished plausible excuse
for criminal desires, and desecrates
the marriage rite. It is a wicked thing
to think upon. Before it is too late
forget your passion and deny this guilt.”
And after she had said these words, her eyes
were opened to the prize of modesty,
chaste virtue, and a pure affection:
and Cupid, vanquished, turned away and fled.
Then, to an ancient altar of the goddess named
Hecate, Perse's daughter took her way
in the deep shadows of a forest. She
was strong of purpose now, and all the flames
of vanquished passion had died down; but when
she saw the son of Aeson, dying flames
leaped up again. Her cheeks grew red, then all
her face went pale again; as a small spark
when hid beneath the ashes, if fed by
a breath of wind grows and regains its strength,
as it is fanned to life; so now her love
that had been smoldering, and which you would
have thought was almost dead, when she had see
again his manly youth, blazed up once more.
For on that day his graceful person seemed
as glorious as a God;—and as she gazed,
and fixed her eyes upon his countenance,
her frenzy so prevailed, she was convinced
that he was not a mortal. And her eyes
were fascinated; and she could not turn
away from him. But when he spoke to her,
and promised marriage, grasping her right hand:
she answered, as her eyes suffused with tears;
“I see what I will do, and ignorance
of truth will not be my undoing now,
but love itself. By my assistance you
shall be preserved; but when preserved fulfill
your promise.”
He swore that she could trust in him.
Then by the goddess of the triple form,
Diana, Trivia, or Luna called,
and by her sacred groves and fanes, he vowed,
and by the hallowed Sun that sees all things,
and by his own adventures, and his life,—
on these the youthful Jason took his oath.—
With this she was assured and quickly gave
to him the magic herbs: he learnt their use
and full of joy withdrew into his house.
Now when the dawn had dimmed the glittering stars,
the people hastened to the sacred field
of Mars, and on the hills expectant stood.—
Arrayed in purple, and in majesty
distinguished by his ivory sceptre, sat
the king, surrounded by a multitude.
Below them on the visioned Field of Mars,
huge brazen-footed bulls were breathing forth
from adamantine nostrils living flames,
blasting the verdant herbage in their path!
As forges glowing with hot flames resound,
or as much quick-lime, burnt in earthen kilns,
crackles and hisses as if mad with rage,
sprinkled with water, liberating heat;
so their hot throats and triple-heated sides,
resounding told of pent-up fires within.
The son of Aeson went to meet them. As
he came to meet them the fierce animals
turned on him faces terrible, and sharp
horns tipped with iron, and they pawed
the dusty earth with cloven feet, and filled
the place with fiery bellowings. The Minyans
were stark with fear; he went up to the bulls
not feeling their hot breath at all, so great
the power of his charmed drugs; and while he
was stroking their down-hanging dewlaps with
a fearless hand, he placed the yoke down on
their necks and made them draw the heavy plow,
and cut through fields that never felt the steel
before. The Colchians were amazed and silent;
but the loud shouting of the Minyans
increased their hero's courage. Taking then
the serpent's teeth out of a brazen helmet
he sowed them broadcast in the new-plowed field.
The moist earth softened these seeds that were steeped
in virulent poison and the teeth swelled up
and took new forms. And just as in its mother
an infant gradually assumes the form
of man, and is perfected through all parts
within, and does not come forth to the light
till fully formed; so, when the forms of men
had been completed in the womb of earth
made pregnant, they rose up from it,
and what is yet more wonderful, each one
clashed weapons that had been brought forth with him.
When his companions saw the warriors turn
as if with one accord, to hurl their spears,
sharp-pointed, at the head of Jason, fear
unnerved the boldest and their courage failed.
So, too, the maid whose sorcery had saved
him from much danger, when she saw the youth
encompassed by those raging enemies,
and he alone against so many—struck
with sudden panic, she turned ashen white,
her bloodless cheeks were blanched; and chilled with fear
she wilted to the ground; and lest the herbs,
so lately given him, might fail his need
she added incantations and invoked
mysterious arts. While she protected him
He seized upon a heavy stone, and hurled
it in the midst of his new enemies—
distracted by this cast, and murderous,
they turned from him, and clashing their new arms,
those earth-born brothers fought among themselves
till all were slaughtered in blood-thirsty strife.
Gladly the Greeks acclaimed him conqueror,
and pressed around him for the first embrace.
Then, too, Medea, barbarous Colchian maid,
although her modesty restrained her heart,
eagerly longed to fold him in her arms,
but careful of her good name, held aloof,—
rejoicing in deep, silent love; and she
acknowledged to the Gods her mighty gift
of incantations.
But the dragon, still
alert,—magnificent and terrible
with gorgeous crest and triple tongue, and fangs
barbed as a javelin, guards the Golden Fleece:
and Jason can obtain that quest only
if slumber may seal up the monster's eyes.—
Jason, successful, sprinkled on his crest
Lethean juices of a magic herb,
and then recited thrice the words which bring
deep slumber, potent words which would becalm
the storm-tossed ocean, and would stop the flow
of the most rapid rivers of our earth:
and slowly slumber sealed the dragon's eyes.
While that great monster slept, the hero took
the Golden Fleece; and proudly sailed away
bearing his treasure and the willing maid,
(whose aid had saved him) to his native port
Iolcus—victorious with the Argonauts.

> Latin: Iamque fretum Minyae Pagasaea puppe secabant,
perpetuaque trahens inopem sub nocte senectam
Phineus visus erat, iuvenesque Aquilone creati
virgineas volucres miseri senis ore fugarant,
multaque perpessi claro sub Iasone tandem
contigerant rapidas limosi Phasidos undas.
Dumque adeunt regem Phrixeaque vellera poscunt
lexque datur Minyis magnorum horrenda laborum,
concipit interea validos Aeetias ignes
et luctata diu, postquam ratione furorem
vincere non poterat, “frustra Medea, repugnas:
nescio quis deus obstat” ait; “mirumque, nisi hoc est,
aut aliquid certe simile huic, quod amare vocatur.
Nam cur iussa patris nimium mihi dura videntur?
Sunt quoque dura nimis. Cur, quem modo denique vidi,
ne pereat, timeo? quae tanti causa timoris?
Excute virgineo conceptas pectore flammas,
si potes, infelix! — Si possem, sanior essem.
Sed trahit invitam nova vis, aliudque cupido,
mens aliud suadet. Video meliora proboque,
deteriora sequor. Quid in hospite, regia virgo,
ureris et thalamos alieni concipis orbis?
Haec quoque terra potest, quod ames, dare. Vivat an ille
occidat, in dis est. Vivat tamen! idque precari
vel sine amore licet: quid enim commisit Iason?
Quem, nisi crudelem, non tangat Iasonis aetas
et genus et virtus? Quem non, ut cetera desint,
ore movere potest? Certe mea pectora movit.
At nisi opem tulero, taurorum adflabitur ore
concurretque suae segeti, tellure creatis
hostibus, aut avido dabitur fera praeda draconi.
Hoc ego si patiar, tum me de tigride natam,
tum ferrum et scopulos gestare in corde fatebor.
Cur non et specto pereuntem oculosque videndo
conscelero? Cur non tauros exhortor in illum
terrigenasque feros insopitumque draconem?
Di meliora velint. Quamquam non ista precanda,
sed facienda mihi. — Prodamne ego regna parentis,
atque ope nescio quis servabitur advena nostra,
ut per me sospes sine me det lintea ventis
virque sit alterius, poenae Medea relinquar?
Si facere hoc aliamve potest praeponere nobis,
occidat ingratus. Sed non is vultus in illo,
non ea nobilitas animo est, ea gratia formae,
ut timeam fraudem meritique oblivia nostri.
Et dabit ante fidem, cogamque in foedera testes
esse deos. Quid tuta times? accingere et omnem
pelle moram: tibi se semper debebit Iason,
te face sollemni iunget sibi, perque Pelasgas
servatrix urbes matrum celebrabere turba.
Ergo ego germanam fratremque patremque deosque
et natale solum, ventis ablata, relinquam?
Nempe pater saevus, nempe est mea barbara tellus,
frater adhuc infans: stant mecum vota sororis,
maximus intra me deus est. Non magna relinquam,
magna sequar: titulum servatae pubis Achivae
notitiamque loci melioris et oppida, quorum
hic quoque fama viget, cultusque artesque locorum;
quemque ego cum rebus, quas totus possidet orbis,
Aesoniden mutasse velim; quo coniuge felix
et dis cara ferar et vertice sidera tangam.
Quid, quod nescio qui mediis concurrere in undis
dicuntur montes, ratibusque inimica Charybdis
nunc sorbere fretum, nunc reddere, cinctaque saevis
Scylla rapax canibus Siculo latrare profundo?
Nempe tenens, quod amo, gremioque in Iasonis haerens
per freta longa ferar: nihil illum amplexa verebor
aut, siquid metuam, metuam de coniuge solo. —
Coniugiumne vocas speciosaque nomina culpae
imponis, Medea, tuae? Quin adspice, quantum
adgrediare nefas, et, dum licet, effuge crimen.”
Dixit, et ante oculos rectum pietasque pudorque
constiterant, et victa dabat iam terga Cupido.
Ibat ad antiquas Hecates Perseidos aras,
quas nemus umbrosum secretaque silva tegebat.
Et iam fortis erat pulsusque resederat ardor,
cum videt Aesoniden exstinctaque flamma reluxit.
Erubuere genae, totoque recanduit ore,
utque solet ventis alimenta adsumere quaeque
parva sub inducta latuit scintilla favilla
crescere et in veteres agitata resurgere vires,
sic iam lentus amor, iam quem languere putares,
ut vidit iuvenem, specie praesentis inarsit.
Et casu solito formosior Aesone natus
illa luce fuit: posses ignoscere amanti.
Spectat et in vultu veluti tum denique viso
lumina fixa tenet nec se mortalia demens
ora videre putat, nec se declinat ab illo.
Ut vero coepitque loqui dextramque prehendit
hospes et auxilium submissa voce rogavit
promisitque torum, lacrimis ait illa profusis:
“Quid faciam, video (non ignorantia veri
decipiet, sed amor): servabere munere nostro;
servatus promissa dato.” Per sacra triformis
ille deae, lucoque foret quod numen in illo,
perque patrem soceri cernentem cuncta futuri
eventusque suos et tanta pericula iurat.
Creditus accepit cantatas protinus herbas
edidicitque usum, laetusque in tecta recessit.
Postera depulerat stellas aurora micantes:
conveniunt populi sacrum Mavortis in arvum
consistuntque iugis. Medio rex ipse resedit
agmine purpureus sceptroque insignis eburno.
Ecce adamanteis Vulcanum naribus efflant
aeripedes tauri, tactaeque vaporibus herbae
ardent; utque solent pleni resonare camini,
aut ubi terrena silices fornace soluti
concipiunt ignem liquidarum adspergine aquarum,
pectora sic intus clausas volventia flammas
gutturaque usta sonant. Tamen illis Aesone natus
obvius it. Vertere truces venientis ad ora
terribiles vultus praefixaque cornua ferro,
pulvereumque solum pede pulsavere bisulco
fumificisque locum mugitibus impleverunt.
Deriguere metu Minyae: subit ille, nec ignes
sentit anhelatos (tantum medicamina possunt),
pendulaque audaci mulcet palearia dextra,
suppositosque iugo pondus grave cogit aratri
ducere et insuetum ferro proscindere campum.
Mirantur Colchi, Minyae clamoribus augent
adiciuntque animos. Galea tum sumit aena
vipereos dentes et aratos spargit in agros.
Semina mollit humus valido praetincta veneno,
et crescunt fiuntque sati nova corpora dentes.
Utque hominis speciem materna sumit in alvo
perque suos intus numeros componitur infans,
nec nisi maturus communes exit in auras,
sic ubi visceribus gravidae telluris imago
effecta est hominis, feto consurgit in arvo,
quodque magis mirum est, simul edita concutit arma.
Quos ubi viderunt praeacutae cuspidis hastas
in caput Haemonii iuvenis torquere parantes,
demisere metu vultumque animumque Pelasgi.
Ipsa quoque extimuit, quae tutum fecerat illum;
utque peti vidit iuvenem tot ab hostibus unum,
palluit et subito sine sanguine frigida sedit;
neve parum valeant a se data gramina, carmen
auxiliare canit secretasque advocat artes.
Ille gravem medios silicem iaculatus in hostes
a se depulsum Martem convertit in ipsos.
Terrigenae pereunt per mutua vulnera fratres
civilique cadunt acie. Gratantur Achivi
victoremque tenent avidisque amplexibus haerent.
Tu quoque victorem complecti, barbara, velles:
sed te, ne faceres, tenuit reverentia famae.
Quod licet, adfectu tacito laetaris agisque
carminibus grates et dis auctoribus horum.
Pervigilem superest herbis sopire draconem,
qui crista linguisque tribus praesignis et uncis
dentibus horrendus custos erat arboris aureae.
Hunc postquam sparsit Lethaei gramine suci
verbaque ter dixit placidos facientia somnos,
quae mare turbatum, quae concita flumina sistunt,
somnus in ignotos oculos sibi venit, et auro
heros Aesonius potitur spolioque superbus
muneris auctorem secum, spolia altera, portans
victor Iolciacos tetigit cum coniuge portus.

[¶1] Now when the valiant Argonauts returned
to Thessaly, their happy relatives,
fathers and mothers, praised the living Gods;
and with their hallowed gifts enhanced the flames
with precious incense; and they offered Jove
a sacred bullock, rich with gilded horns.
But Jason's father, Aeson, came not down
rejoicing to behold his son, for now
worn out with many years, he waited death.
And Jason to Medea grieving said:
“Dearest, to whom my life and love are due,
although your kindness has been great to me,
and you have granted more than I should ask,
yet one thing more I beg of you; if your
enchantments can accomplish my desire,
take from my life some years that I should live
and add them to my father's ending days.”—
And as he spoke he could not check his tears.
Medea, moved by his affection, thought
how much less she had grieved for her loved sire:
and she replied:—“A wicked thing you ask!
Can I be capable of using you
in such a manner as to take your life
and give it to another? Ask not me
a thing so dreadful! May the Gods forbid!—
I will endeavor to perform for you
a task much greater. By the powers of Night
I will most certainly return to him
the lost years of your father, but must not
deprive you of your own. — Oh grant the power,
great goddess of the triple form, that I
may fail not to accomplish this great deed!”
Three nights were wanting for the moon to join
her circling horns and form a perfect orb.
When these were passed, the rounded light shone full
and bright upon the earth.—Through the still night
alone, Medea stole forth from the house
with feet bare, and in flowing garment clothed—
her long hair unadorned and not confined.
Deep slumber has relaxed the world, and all
that's living, animals and birds and men,
and even the hedges and the breathing leaves
are still—and motionless the laden air.
Only the stars are twinkling, and to them
she looks and beckons with imploring hands.
Now thrice around she paces, and three times
besprinkles her long hair with water dipt
from crystal streams, which having done
she kneels a moment on the cold, bare ground,
and screaming three times calls upon the Night,—
“O faithful Night, regard my mysteries!
O golden-lighted Stars! O softly-moving Moon—
genial, your fire succeeds the heated day!
O Hecate! grave three-faced queen of these
charms of enchanters and enchanters, arts!
O fruitful Earth, giver of potent herbs!
O gentle Breezes and destructive Winds!
You Mountains, Rivers, Lakes and sacred Groves,
and every dreaded god of silent Night!
Attend upon me!—
“When my power commands,
the rivers turn from their accustomed ways
and roll far backward to their secret springs!
I speak—and the wild, troubled sea is calm,
and I command the waters to arise!
The clouds I scatter—and I bring the clouds;
I smooth the winds and ruffle up their rage;
I weave my spells and I recite my charms;
I pluck the fangs of serpents, and I move
the living rocks and twist the rooted oaks;
I blast the forests. Mountains at my word
tremble and quake; and from her granite tombs
the liberated ghosts arise as Earth
astonished groans! From your appointed ways,
O wonder-working Moon, I draw you down
against the magic-making sound of gongs
and brazen vessels of Temesa's ore;
I cast my spells and veil the jeweled rays
of Phoebus' wain, and quench Aurora's fires.
“At my command you tamed the flaming bulls
which long disdained to bend beneath the yoke,
until they pressed their necks against the plows;
and, subject to my will, you raised up war
till the strong company of dragon-birth
were slaughtered as they fought amongst themselves;
and, last, you lulled asleep the warden's eyes—
guards of the Golden Fleece—till then awake
and sleeping never—so, deceiving him,
you sent the treasure to the Grecian cities!
“Witness my need of super-natured herbs,
elixirs potent to renew the years of age,
giving the bloom of youth.—You shall not fail
to grant me this; for not in vain the stars
are flashing confirmation; not in vain
the flying dragons, harnessed by their necks,
from skies descending bring my chariot down.”
A chariot, sent from heaven, came to her—
and soon as she had stroked the dragons' necks,
and shaken in her hands the guiding reins—
as soon as she had mounted, she was borne
quickly above, through unresisting air.
And, sailing over Thessaly, she saw
the vale of Tempe, where the level soil
is widely covered with a crumbling chalk—
she turned her dragons towards new regions there:
and she observed the herbs by Ossa born,
the weeds on lofty Pelion, Othrys, Pindus
and vast Olympus—and from here she plucked
the needed roots, or there, the blossoms clipped
all with a moon-curved sickle made of brass—
many the wild weeds by Apidanus,
as well as blue Amphrysus' banks, she chose,
and not escaped Enipeus from her search;
Peneian stretches and Spercheian banks
all yielded what she chose:—and Boebe's shore
where sway the rushes; and she plucked up grass,
a secret grass, from fair Euboean fields
life-giving virtues in their waving blades,
as yet unknown for transformation wrought
on Glaucus.
All those fields she visited,
with ceaseless diligence in quest of charms,
nine days and nine nights sought strong herbs,
and the swift dragons with their active wings,
failed not to guide the chariot where she willed—
until they reached her home. The dragons then
had not been even touched by anything,
except the odor of surrounding herbs,
and yet they sloughed their skins, the growth of years.

> Latin: Haemoniae matres pro gnatis dona receptis
grandaevique ferunt patres congestaque flamma
tura liquefaciunt, inductaque cornibus aurum
victima vota cadit. Sed abest gratantibus Aeson,
iam propior leto fessusque senilibus annis.
Cum sic Aesonides: “O cui debere salutem
confiteor, coniunx, quamquam mihi cuncta dedisti
excessitque fidem meritorum summa tuorum,
si tamen hoc possunt (quid enim non carmina possunt?),
deme meis annis et demptos adde parenti.”
Nec tenuit lacrimas. Mota est pietate rogantis,
dissimilemque animum subiit Aeeta relictus.
Nec tamen adfectus tales confessa “quod” inquit
“excidit ore tuo, coniunx, scelus? ergo ego cuiquam
posse tuae videor spatium transcribere vitae?
Nec sinat hoc Hecate, nec tu petis aequa. Sed isto,
quod petis, experiar maius dare munus Iason.
Arte mea soceri longum temptabimus aevum,
non annis renovare tuis: modo diva triformis
adiuvet et praesens ingentibus adnuat ausis.”
Tres aberant noctes, ut cornua tota coirent
efficerentque orbem. Postquam plenissima fulsit
et solida terras spectavit imagine luna,
egreditur tectis vestes induta recinctas,
nuda pedem, nudos umeris infusa capillos,
fertque vagos mediae per muta silentia noctis
incomitata gradus. Homines volucresque ferasque
solverat alta quies: nullo cum murmure saepes,
inmotaeque silent frondes, silet umidus aer;
sidera sola micant. Ad quae sua bracchia tendens
ter se convertit, ter sumptis flumine crinem
inroravit aquis ternisque ululatibus ora
solvit et, in dura submisso poplite terra,
“Nox” ait “arcanis fidissima, quaeque diurnis
aurea cum luna succeditis ignibus astra,
tuque triceps Hecate, quae coeptis conscia nostris
adiutrixque venis cantusque artisque magorum,
quaeque magos, Tellus, pollentibus instruis herbis,
auraeque et venti montesque amnesque lacusque
dique omnes nemorum, dique omnes noctis adeste.
Quorum ope, cum volui, ripis mirantibus amnes
in fontes rediere suos, concussaque sisto,
stantia concutio cantu freta, nubila pello
nubilaque induco, ventos abigoque vocoque,
vipereas rumpo verbis et carmine fauces,
vivaque saxa sua convulsaque robora terra
et silvas moveo, iubeoque tremescere montes
et mugire solum manesque exire sepulcris.
Te quoque, Luna, traho, quamvis Temesaea labores
aera tuos minuant; currus quoque carmine nostro
pallet avi, pallet nostris Aurora venenis.
Vos mihi taurorum flammas hebetastis et unco
impatiens oneris collum pressistis aratro,
vos serpentigenis in se fera bella dedistis
custodemque rudem somno sopistis et aurum
vindice decepto Graias misistis in urbes.
Nunc opus est sucis, per quos renovata senectus
in florem redeat primosque reconligat annos.
Et dabitis. Neque enim micuerunt sidera frustra,
nec frustra volucrum tractus cervice draconum
currus adest.” Aderat demissus ab aethere currus.
Quo simul adscendit frenataque colla draconum
permulsit manibusque leves agitavit habenas,
sublimis rapitur subiectaque Thessala Tempe
despicit et Threces regionibus applicat angues:
et quasque Ossa tulit quasque altus Pelion herbas
Othrysque Pindusque et Pindo maior Olympus
perspicit, et placitas partim radice revellit,
partim succidit curvamine falcis aenae.
Multa quoque Apidani placuerunt gramina ripis,
multa quoque Amphrysi neque eras inmunis, Enipeu;
nec non Peneos, nec non Spercheides undae
contribuere aliquid iuncosaque litora Boebes.
Carpsit et Euboica vivax Anthedone gramen,
nondum mutato vulgatum corpore Glauci.
Et iam nona dies curru pennisque draconum
nonaque nox omnes lustrantem viderat agros,
cum rediit. Neque erant tacti, nisi odore, dracones,
et tamen annosae pellem posuere senectae.

[¶2] She would not cross the threshold of her home
nor pass its gates; but, standing in the field,
alone beneath the canopy of Heaven,
she shunned all contact with her husband, while
she built up from the ever-living turf
two altars, one of which upon the right
to Hecate was given, but the one
upon the left was sacred then to you,
O Hebe, goddess of eternal youth!
Festooning woodland boughs and sweet vervain
adorned these altars, near by which she dug
as many trenches. Then, when all was done,
she slaughtered a black ram, and sprinkled with blood
the thirsty trenches; after which she poured
from rich carchesian goblets generous wine
and warm milk, grateful to propitious Gods—
the Deities of earth on whom she called—
entreating, as she did so, Pluto, lord
of ghostly shades, and ravished Proserpine,
that they should not, in undue haste,
deprive her patient's aged limbs of life.
When certain she compelled the God's regard,
assured her incantations and long prayers
were both approved and heard, she bade her people
bring out the body of her father-in-law—
old Aeson's worn out body—and when she
had buried him in a deep slumber by
her spells, as if he were a dead man, she
then stretched him out upon a bed of herbs.
She ordered Jason and his servants thence,
and warned them not to spy upon her rites,
with eyes profane. As soon as they retired,
Medea, with disheveled hair and wild
abandon, as a Bacchanalian, paced
times three around the blazing altars, while
she dipped her torches, splintered at the top,
into the trenches, dark: with blood, and lit
the dipt ends in the sacred altar flames.
Times three she purified the ancient man
with flames, and thrice with water, and three times
with sulphur,—as the boiling mixture seethed
and bubbled in the brazen cauldron near.
And into this, acerbic juices, roots,
and flowers and seeds—from vales Hemonian—
and mixed elixirs, into which she cast
stones of strange virtue from the Orient,
and sifted sands of ebbing ocean's tide;
white hoar-frost, gathered when the moon was full,
the nauseating flesh and luckless wings
of the uncanny screech-owl, and the entrails
from a mysterious animal that changed
from wolf to man, from man to wolf again;
the scaly sloughing of a water-snake,
the medic liver of a long-lived stag,
and the hard beak and head of an old crow
which was alive nine centuries before;
these, and a thousand nameless things
the foreign sorceress prepared and mixed,
and blended all together with a branch
of peaceful olive, old and dry with years. —
And while she stirred the withered olive branch
in the hot mixture, it began to change
from brown to green; and presently put forth
new leaves, and soon was heavy with a wealth
of luscious olives.—As the ever-rising fire
threw bubbling froth beyond the cauldron's rim,
the ground was covered with fresh verdure — flowers
and all luxuriant grasses, and green plants.
Medea, when she saw this wonder took
her unsheathed knife and cut the old man's throat;
then, letting all his old blood out of him
she filled his ancient veins with rich elixir.
As he received it through his lips or wound,
his beard and hair no longer white with age,
turned quickly to their natural vigor, dark
and lustrous; and his wasted form renewed,
appeared in all the vigor of bright youth,
no longer lean and sallow, for new blood
coursed in his well-filled veins.—Astonished, when
released from his deep sleep, and strong in youth,
his memory assured him, such he was
years four times ten before that day!—
Bacchus, from his celestial vantage saw
this marvel, and convinced his nurses might
then all regain their former vigor, he
pled with Medea to restore their youth.
The Colchian woman granted his request.

> Latin: Constitit adveniens citra limenque foresque
et tantum caelo tegitur refugitque viriles
contactus statuitque aras de caespite binas,
dexteriore Hecates, ast laeva parte Iuventae.
Has ubi verbenis silvaque incinxit agresti.
haud procul egesta scrobibus tellure duabus
sacra facit cultrosque in guttura velleris atri
conicit et patulas perfundit sanguine fossas.
Tum super invergens liquidi carchesia vini
alteraque invergens tepidi carchesia lactis
verba simul fudit terrenaque numina civit
umbrarumque rogat rapta cum coniuge regem,
ne properent artus anima fraudare senili.
Quos ubi placavit precibusque et murmure longo,
Aesonis effetum proferri corpus ad auras
iussit et in plenos resolutum carmine somnos,
exanimi similem, stratis porrexit in herbis.
Hinc procul Aesoniden, procul hinc iubet ire ministros
et monet arcanis oculos removere profanos.
Diffugiunt iussi. Passis Medea capillis
bacchantum ritu, flagrantes circuit aras
multifidasque faces in fossa sanguinis atra
tingit et infectas geminis accendit in aris
terque senem flamma, ter aqua, ter sulphure lustrat.
Interea validum posito medicamen aeno
fervet et exsultat spumisque tumentibus albet.
Illic Haemonia radices valle resectas
seminaque floresque et sucos incoquit atros.
Adicit extremo lapides oriente petitos
et quas Oceani refluum mare lavit harenas,
addit et exceptas luna pernocte pruinas
et strigis infames ipsis cum carnibus alas
inque virum soliti vultus mutare ferinos
ambigui prosecta lupi; nec defuit illis
squamea Cinyphii tenuis membrana chelydri
vivacisque iecur cervi; quibus insuper addit
ora caputque novem cornicis saecula passae.
His et mille aliis postquam sine nomine rebus
propositum instruxit mortali barbara maius
arenti ramo iampridem mitis olivae
omnia confudit summisque inmiscuit ima.
Ecce vetus calido versatus stipes aeno
fit viridis primo, nec longo tempore frondes
induit et subito gravidis oneratur olivis.
At quacumque cavis spumas eiecit aenis
ignis et in terram guttae cecidere calentes,
vernat humus, floresque et mollia pabula surgunt.
Quae simul ac vidit, stricto Medea recludit
ense senis iugulum, veteremque exire cruorem
passa, replet sucis. Quos postquam combibit Aeson
aut ore acceptos aut vulnere, barba comaeque
canitie posita nigrum rapuere colorem,
pulsa fugit macies, abeunt pallorque situsque,
adiectoque cavae supplentur corpore rugae,
membraque luxuriant. Aeson miratur et olim
ante quater denos hunc se reminiscitur annos.
Viderat ex alto tanti miracula monstri
Liber, et admonitus iuvenes nutricibus annos
posse suis reddi, capit hoc a Colchide munus.

[¶3] but so her malice might be satisfied
Medea feigned she had a quarrel with
her husband, and for safety she had fled
to Pelias. There, since the king himself
was heavy with old age, his daughters gave
her generous reception. And these girls
the shrewd Medea in a short time won,
by her false show of friendliness; and while
among the most remarkable of her
achievements she was telling how she had
rejuvenated Aeson, and she dwelt
particularly, on that strange event,
these daughters were induced to hope that by
some skill like this their father might regain
his lost youth also. And they begged of her
this boon, persuading her to name the price;
no matter if it was large. She did not
reply at once and seemed to hesitate,
and so she held their fond minds in a deep
suspense by her feigned meditation. When
she had at length declared she would restore
his youth, she said to them: “That you may have
strong confidence in this my promised boon,
the oldest leader of your flock of sheep shall be
changed to a lamb again by my prized drugs.”
Straightway a wooly ram, worn out with length
of untold years was brought, his great horns curved
around his hollow temples. After she
had cut his scrawny throat with her sharp knife
Thessalian, barely staining it with his
thin blood, Medea plunged his carcass in
a bronze-made kettle, throwing in it at
the same time juices of great potency.
These made his body shrink and burnt away
his two horns, and with horns his years. And now
thin bleating was heard from within the pot;
and even while they wondered at the sound,
a lamb jumped out and frisking, ran away
to find some udder with its needed milk.
Amazed the daughters looked on and, now that
these promises had been performed, they urged
more eagerly their first request. Three times
Phoebus unyoked his steeds after their plunge
in Ebro's stream, and on the fourth night stars
shown brilliant on the dark foil of the sky,
and then the treacherous daughter of Aeetes
set some clear water over a hot fire
and put in it herbs of no potency.
And now a death-like sleep held the king down,
his body all relaxed, and with the king
his guards, a sleep which incantations with
the potency of magic words had given.
The sad king's daughters, as they had been bid,
were in his room, and with Medea stood
around his bed. “Why do you hesitate,”
Medea said. “You laggards, come and draw
your swords; let out his old blood that
I may refill his empty veins again
with young blood. In your hands your father's life
and youth are resting. You, his daughters, must
have love for him, and if the hopes you have
are not all vain, come, do your duty by
your father; drive out old age at the point
of your good weapons; and let out his blood
enfeebled—cure him with the stroke of iron.”
Spurred on by these words, as each one of them
was filial she became the leader in
the most unfilial act, and that she might
not be most wicked did the wicked deed.
Not one could bear to see her own blows, so
they turned their eyes away; and every face
averted so, they blindly struck him with
their cruel hands. The old man streaming with
his blood, still raised himself on elbow, and
half mangled tried to get up from his bed;
with all those swords around him, he stretched out
his pale arms and he cried: “What will you do,
my daughters? What has armed you to the death
of your loved father?” Their wrong courage left
them, and their hands fell. When he would have said
still more, Medea cut his throat and plunged
his mangled body into boiling water.

> Latin: Neve doli cessent, odium cum coniuge falsum
Phasias adsimulat Peliaeque ad limina supplex
confugit. Atque illam, quoniam gravis ipse senecta est,
excipiunt natae. Quas tempore callida parvo
Colchis amicitiae mendacis imagine cepit.
Dumque refert inter meritorum maxima, demptos
Aesonis esse situs, atque hac in parte moratur,
spes est virginibus Pelia subiecta creatis
arte suum parili revirescere posse parentem.
Idque petunt pretiumque iubent sine fine pacisci.
Illa brevi spatio silet et dubitare videtur
suspenditque animos ficta gravitate rogantes.
Mox ubi pollicita est, “quo sit fiducia maior
muneris huius” ait, “qui vestri maximus aevo est
dux gregis inter oves, agnus medicamine fiet.”
Protinus innumeris effetus laniger annis
attrahitur flexo circum cava tempora cornu.
Cuius ut Haemonio marcentia guttura cultro
fodit et exiguo maculavit sanguine ferrum,
membra simul pecudis validosque venefica sucos
mergit in aere cavo: minuunt en corporis artus
cornuaque exurunt nec non cum cornibus annos,
et tener auditur medio balatus aeno.
Nec mora, balatum mirantibus exsilit agnus
lascivitque fuga lactantiaque ubera quaerit.
Obstipuere satae Pelia: promissaque postquam
exhibuere fidem, tum vero impensius instant.
Ter iuga Phoebus equis in Hibero flumine mersis
dempserat et quarta radiantia nocte micabant
sidera, cum rapido fallax Aeetias igni
imponit purum laticem et sine viribus herbas.
Iamque neci similis resoluto corpore regem
et cum rege suo custodes somnus habebat,
quem dederant cantus magicaeque potentia linguae:
intrarant iussae cum Colchide limina natae
ambierantque torum. “Quid nunc dubitatis inertes?
Stringite” ait “gladios veteremque haurite cruorem,
ut repleam vacuas iuvenali sanguine venas.
In manibus vestris vita est aetasque parentis:
si pietas ulla est nec spes agitatis inanes,
officium praestate patri telisque senectam
exigite et saniem coniecto emittite ferro.”
His, ut quaeque pia est, hortatibus impia prima est,
et ne sit scelerata, facit scelus. Haud tamen ictus
ulla suos spectare potest, oculosque reflectunt
caecaque dant saevis aversae vulnera dextris.
Ille, cruore fluens, cubito tamen adlevat artus
semilacerque toro temptat consurgere et inter
tot medius gladios pallentia bracchia tendens
“quid facitis, gnatae? quis vos in fata parentis
armat?” ait. Cecidere illis animique manusque.
Plura locuturo cum verbis guttura Colchis
abstulit et calidis laniatum mersit in undis.

[¶4] Only because her winged dragons sailed
swiftly with her up to the lofty sky,
escaped Medea punishment for this
unheard of crime.
Her chariot sailed above
embowered Pelion — long the lofty home
of Chiron—over Othrys, and the vale
made famous where Cerambus met his fate.
Cerambus, by the aid of nymphs, from there
was wafted through the air on wings, when earth
was covered by the overwhelming sea—
and so escaped Deucalion's flood, uncrowned.
She passed by Pittane upon the left,
with its huge serpent-image of hard stone,
and also passed the grove called Ida's, where
the stolen bull was changed by Bacchus' power
into a hunted stag—in that same vale
Paris lies buried in the sand; and over fields
where Mera warning harked, Medea flew;
over the city of Eurypylus
upon the Isle of Cos, whose women wore
the horns of cattle when from there had gone
the herd of Hercules; and over Rhodes
beloved of Phoebus, where Telchinian tribes
dwelt, whose bad eyes corrupting power shot forth;—
Jove, utterly despising, thrust them deep
beneath his brother's waves; over the walls
of old Carthaea, where Alcidamas
had seen with wonder a tame dove arise
from his own daughter's body.
And she saw
the lakes of Hyrie in Teumesia's Vale,
by swans frequented—There to satisfy
his love for Cycnus, Phyllius gave
two living vultures: shell for him subdued
a lion, and delivered it to him;
and mastered a great bull, at his command;
but when the wearied Phyllius refused
to render to his friend the valued bull.
Indignant, the youth said, “You shall regret
your hasty words;” which having said, he leaped
from a high precipice, as if to death;
but gliding through the air, on snow-white wings,
was changed into a swan—Dissolved in tears,
his mother Hyrie knew not he was saved;
and weeping, formed the lake that bears her name.
And over Pleuron, where on trembling wings
escaped the mother Combe from her sons,
Medea flew; and over the far isle
Calauria, sacred to Latona.—She
beheld the conscious fields whose lawful king,
together with his queen were changed to birds.
Upon her right Cyllene could be seen;
there Menephon, degraded as a beast,
outraged his mother. In the distance, she
beheld Cephisius, who lamented long
his hapless grandson, by Apollo changed
into a bloated sea-calf. And she saw
the house where king Eumelus mourned the death
of his aspiring son.—Borne on the wings
of her enchanted dragons, she arrived
at Corinth, whose inhabitants, 'tis said,
from many mushrooms, watered by the rain
sprang into being.
There she spent some years.
But after the new wife had been burnt by
the Colchian witchcraft and two seas
had seen the king's own palace all aflame,
then, savagely she drew her sword, and bathed
it in the blood of her own infant sons;
by which atrocious act she was revenged;
and she, a wife and mother, fled the sword
of her own husband, Jason.
On the wings
of her enchanted Titan Dragons borne,
she made escape, securely, nor delayed
until she entered the defended walls
of great Minerva's city, at the hour
when aged Periphas — transformed by Jove,
together with his queen, on eagle wings
flew over its encircling walls: with whom
the guilty Halcyone, skimming seas
safely escaped, upon her balanced wings.
And after these events, Medea went
to Aegeus, king of Athens, where she found
protection from her enemies for all
this evil done. With added wickedness
Aegeus, after that, united her
to him in marriage.—
All unknown to him
came Theseus to his kingly court.—Before
the time his valor had established peace
on all the isthmus, raved by dual seas.
Medea, seeking his destruction, brewed
the juice of aconite, infesting shores
of Scythia, where, 'tis fabled, the plant grew
on soil infected by Cerberian teeth.
There is a gloomy entrance to a cave,
that follows a declivitous descent:
there Hercules with chains of adamant
dragged from the dreary edge of Tartarus
that monster-watch-dog, Cerberus, which, vain
opposing, turned his eyes aslant from light—
from dazzling day. Delirious, enraged,
that monster shook the air with triple howls;
and, frothing, sprinkled as it raved, the fields,
once green—with spewing of white poison-foam.
And this, converted into plants, sucked up
a deadly venom with the nourishment
of former soils,—from which productive grew
upon the rock, thus formed, the noxious plant;
by rustics, from that cause, named aconite.
Medea worked on Aegeus to present
his own son, Theseus, with a deadly cup
of aconite; prevailing by her art
so that he deemed his son an enemy.
Theseus unwittingly received the cup,
but just before he touched it to his lips,
his father recognized the sword he wore,
for, graven on its ivory hilt was wrought
a known device—the token of his race.
Astonished, Aegeus struck the poison-cup
from his devoted son's confiding lips.
Medea suddenly escaped from death,
in a dark whirlwind her witch-singing raised.
Recoiling from such utter wickedness,
rejoicing that his son escaped from death,
the grateful father kindled altar-fires,
and gave rich treasure to the living Gods. —
He slaughtered scores of oxen, decked with flowers
and gilded horns. The sun has never shone
upon a day more famous in that land,
for all the elders and the common folk
united in festivities,—with wine
inspiring wit and song;—“O you,” they sang,
“Immortal Theseus, victory was yours!
Did you not slaughter the huge bull of Crete?
“Yes, you did slay the boar of Cromyon —
where now the peasant unmolested plows;
“And Periphetes, wielder of the club,
was worsted when he struggled with your strength;
“And fierce Procrustes, matched with you
beside the rapid river, met his death;
“And even Cercyon, in Eleusis lost
his wicked life—inferior to your might;
“And Sinis, a monstrosity of strength,
who bent the trunks of trees, and used his might
“Against the world for everything that's wrong.
For evil, he would force down to the earth,
“Pine tops to shoot men's bodies through the air.
Even the road to Megara is safe,
“For you did hurl the robber Scyron,—sheer—
over the cliff. Both land and sea denied
“His bones a resting place—as tossed about
they changed into the cliffs that bear his name.
“How can we tell the number of your deeds,—
deeds glorious, that now exceed your years!
“For you, brave hero, we give public thanks
and prayers; to you we drain our cups of wine!”
And all the palace rings with happy songs,
and with the grateful prayers of all the people.
And sorrow in that city is not known.—

> Latin: Quod nisi pennatis serpentibus isset in auras,
non exempta foret poenae. Fugit alta superque
Pelion umbrosum, Philyreia tecta, superque
Othryn et eventu veteris loca nota Cerambi.
Hic ope nympharum sublatus in aera pennis,
cum gravis infuso tellus foret obruta ponto,
Deucalioneas effugit inobrutus undas.
Aeoliam Pitanen a laeva parte relinquit
factaque de saxo longi simulacra draconis,
Idaeumque nemus, quo nati furta, iuvencum
occuluit Liber falsi sub imagine cervi,
quaque pater Corythi parva tumulatus harena est,
et quos Maera novo latratu terruit agros,
Eurypylique urbem, qua Coae cornua matres
gesserunt tum cum discederet Herculis agmen
Phoebeamque Rhodon et Ialysios Telchinas,
quorum oculos ipso vitiantes omnia visu
Iuppiter exosus fraternis subdidit undis.
Transit et antiquae Cartheia moenia Ceae,
qua pater Alcidamas placidam de corpore natae
miraturus erat nasci potuisse columbam.
Inde lacus Hyries videt et Cycneia tempe,
quae subitus celebravit olor. Nam Phyllius illic
imperio pueri volucresque ferumque leonem
tradiderat domitos; taurum quoque vincere iussus
vicerat, et spreto totiens iratus amore
praemia poscenti taurum suprema negabat.
Ille indignatus “cupies dare” dixit et alto
desiluit saxo. Cuncti cecidisse putabant:
factus olor niveis pendebat in aere pennis.
At genetrix Hyrie, servatum nescia, flendo
delicuit stagnumque suo de nomine fecit.
Adiacet his Pleuron, in qua trepidantibus alis
Ophias effugit natorum vulnera Combe.
Inde Calaureae Letoidos adspicit arva,
in volucrem versi cum coniuge conscia regis.
Dextera Cyllene est, in qua cum matre Menephron
concubiturus erat saevarum more ferarum
Cephison procul hinc deflentem fata nepotis
respicit, in tumidam phocen ab Apolline versi,
Eumelique domum lugentis in aere natum.
Tandem vipereis Ephyren Pirenida pennis
contigit. Hic aevo veteres mortalia primo
corpora vulgarunt pluvialibus edita fungis.
Sed postquam Colchis arsit nova nupta venenis,
flagrantemque domum regis mare vidit utrumque,
sanguine natorum perfunditur impius ensis,
ultaque se male mater Iasonis effugit arma.
Hinc Titaniacis ablata draconibus intrat
Palladias arces, quae te, iustissima Phene,
teque, senex Peripha, pariter videre volantes
innixamque novis neptem Polypemonis alis.
Excipit hanc Aegeus, facto dammandus in uno;
nec satis hospitium est: thalami quoque foedere iungit.
Iamque aderat Theseus, proles ignara parenti,
et virtute sua bimarem pacaverat Isthmon.
Huius in exitium miscet Medea quod olim
attulerat secum Scythicis aconiton ab oris.
Illud Echidneae memorant e dentibus ortum
esse canis. Specus est tenebroso caecus hiatu,
est via declivis, per quam Tirynthius heros
restantem contraque diem radiosque micantes
obliquantem oculos nexis adamante catenis
Cerberon abstraxit; rabida qui concitus ira
implevit pariter ternis latratibus auras
et sparsit virides spumis albentibus agros.
Has concresse putant nactasque alimenta feracis
fecundique soli vires cepisse nocendi.
Quae quia nascuntur dura vivacia caute,
agrestes aconita vocant. Ea coniugis astu
ipse parens Aegeus nato porrexit ut hosti.
Sumpserat ignara Theseus data pocula dextra,
cum pater in capulo gladii cognovit eburno
signa sui generis facinusque excussit ab ore.
Effugit illa necem nebulis per carmina motis.
At genitor, quamquam laetatur sospite nato,
attonitus tamen est ingens discrimine parvo
committi potuisse nefas. Fovet ignibus aras
muneribusque deos implet, feriuntque secures
colla torosa boum vinctorum corpora vittis.
Nullus Erechthidis fertur celebratior illo
inluxisse dies. Agitant convivia patres
et medium vulgus, nec non et carmina, vino
ingenium faciente, canunt: “Te, maxime Theseu,
mirata est Marathon Cretaei sanguine tauri;
quodque suis securus arat Cromyona colonus,
munus opusque tuum est. Tellus Epidauria per te
clavigeram vidit Vulcani occumbere prolem,
vidit et inmitem Cephisias ora Procrusten,
Cercyonis letum vidit Cerealis Eleusin.
Occidit ille Sinis, magnis male viribus usus,
qui poterat curvare trabes et agebat ab alto
ad terram late sparsuras corpora pinus.
Tutus ad Alcathoen, Lelegeia moenia, limes
composito Scirone patet, sparsisque latronis
terra negat sedem, sedem negat ossibus unda;
quae iactata diu fertur durasse vetustas
in scopulos: scopulis nomen Scironis inhaeret.
Si titulos annosque tuos numerare velimus,
facta premant annos. Pro te, fortissime, vota
publica suscipimus, Bacchi tibi sumimus haustus.”
Consonat adsensu populi precibusque faventum
regia, nec tota tristis locus ullus in urbe est.